Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill
Debate between Angela Eagle and Dennis Skinner(11 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
On part 2, my hon. Friend has got on to the question of spending money prior to an election. Is there not a connection between the National Union of Students campaigning on student fees after 2010, and the Lib Dems? Some people asked me, “Are the Lib Dems supporting this rubbish—this gagging Bill?” and I said yes. That is because of their fear of 2010, which they do not want repeated in the run-up to the next general election. What a political scandal!
Ms Eagle
As always, my hon. Friend puts his finger on an extremely relevant point.
The Leader of the House made much of his personal commitment to the pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills, and I will be the first to praise him for that. However, his commitment is ringing pretty hollow now. The Government promised that there would be pre-legislative scrutiny on the lobbying proposals in part 1. In May 2012, when he was the Minister responsible, the present Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), told this House:
“We are going to . . . publish our proposals and put them up for pre-legislative scrutiny”.—[Official Report, 22 May 2012; Vol. 545, c. 972.]
There has been none, and the Government have deliberately chosen to preclude it by taking the Bill so quickly and on the Floor of the House.
Let us remind ourselves of what the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Norwich North (Miss Smith), who is now the responsible Minister, told the House in April this year—
Fuel Prices and the Cost of Living
Debate between Angela Eagle and Dennis Skinner(13 years, 7 months ago)
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Ms Eagle
The hon. Lady is right that there has to be a balance between the environmental aspects of taxes on fuel and living standards. However, I find, all too often, that on the green side of the argument the social justice aspects of imposing environmental tax rises are not thought about enough, and such measures tend to hit hardest people whom we are least able to help. She needs to help all of us, when we are thinking about this, by bearing in mind the effects on poverty of environmental taxes.
Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
The fuel duty escalator was introduced by the former Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke). One of the first things that the Labour Government did on assuming office was to make sure that we did not pursue that policy. [Interruption.] Oh, yes. That is why, on several occasions in our 13 years, the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer got rid of the fuel duty increase. That is the truth.